Ocean of Fear: The Worst Shark Attack Ever

This two-hour premiere special kicks off the primetime 9 PM hour of SHARK WEEK’s 20th Anniversary and is narrated by Richard Dreyfuss, who memorably played Matt Hooper in Jaws. The special tells the gripping story of the crew of the U.S.S. Indianapolis, sunk by two torpedoes in the Philippine Sea on the night of July 30, 1945. Eight hundred sailors, many maimed and burned, were plunged into the water … and floated helplessly for four days, having to deal with hunger, driven mad by thirst and menaced by hundreds of sharks. Assisted by George Burgess, America’s foremost investigator of shark attacks, Discovery Channel re-opens the official shark attack file on the Indianapolis – the first time this incident has ever been scientifically investigated. Ocean of Fear examines why the sharks attacked the way they did (and why they sometimes did not), and investigates the survival strategies of the men in the water, including those who fought the sharks. Survivors recall their ordeal on camera and remarkable reconstructions, filmed with real sharks, reveal the drama from both the sharks' and the humans' perspectives.

Am 30. Juli 1945 trifft ein japanischer Torpedo den Kreuzer USS Indianapolis. Das Schiff sinkt innerhalb von Minuten. Im Glauben, bald gerettet zu werden, springen 900 der Besatzungsmitglieder ins Wasser. Aber aufgrund der hohen Geheimhaltungsstufe wird das Schiff im Zielhafen Leyte nicht vermisst. Die Überlebenden schwimmen vier Tage und fünf Nächte in der Philippinensee. Viele verlieren den Verstand, trinken Meerwasser, verdursten oder werden von Haien angegriffen. Nur 317 Männer konnten gerettet werden.